Inking mechanism using water base inks



Nov. 18, 1947. A. TAYLOR I INKING MECHANISM USING-WATER BASE INK 1 FiledApril 21, 1942 INVENTOR Au/51/r/7 741/0)" ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 18,1947 INKING MECHANISM USING WATER BASE INKS Auburn Taylor, Charleston,The Goss Printing Press W. Va., assignor to Company, Chicago,

111., a corporation of Illinois Application April 21, 1942, Serial No.439,811

6 Claims.

The present invention relates to printing presses, and more particularlyto the inking means and mechanism of rotary printing presses.

Objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in parthereinafter and in part will be obvious herefrom, Or may be learned bypractice with the invention, the same being realized and attained bymeans of the instrumentalities and combinations pointed out in theappended claims.

The invention consists in the novel parts, constructions, arrangements,combinations, andimprovements herein shown and described.

The accompanying drawings, referred to herein and constituting a. parthereof, illustrate one embodiment of the invention, and together withthe description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.

Of the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic side view of the print ing units of a rotaryweb perfecting printing press embodying the invention, certain partsbeing shown in cross section and certain other parts not being shown forthe sake of simplicity; and

Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse cross section of one of the adjustablepitch pulleys shown in Fi 1.

It is an object of the present invention to provide improved inkingmechanism for printing presses which will insure the printing of anevenly and uniformly inked product. Another object is to provide inkingmeans particularly adapted to letter press printing presses which willevenly and uniformly deposit and distribute ink upon the plate cylinderpreparatory to taking the impression upon the material to be printed.Still another object is the provision of such inking means which willfulfill the functions desired and demanded using'inks of widely varyingmaterial composition and physical characteristics. It is a furtherobject ofthe invention to provide a printing press with inking meanswhich, when the press is in operation, 'will at all times transfer inkfrom the ink source at the press to the plate cylinders and uniformlyand evenly distribute it upon those cylinders regardless of whether socalled water inks or oil inks are to be used with the press.

In accordance with the present invention ink ing mechanism in mostrespects of a generally customary design is provided for a printingpress, comprising an ink fountain, a fountain roller rotatably mountedin the fountain and driven by suitable mechanism from the printing pressdriving means, an ink distributing drum rotatably mounted on theprinting press frame and 1 ing with water base inks it likewise drivenfrom the printing press driving means, and a plurality of inking rollssome of which are arranged between the fountain roller and the inkdistributing drum and others about the circumference of the distributingdrum, to transfer ink from the fountain to the drum and distribute thesame thereupon in an even and uniform enveloping film. The ink transferroller nearest the fountain roller and transferring ink therefrom ispreferably a spiral roller in order to insure an even and uniformdistribution of the ink. Where water base inks are to be used in theprinting press it has been found that certain of the parts of the inkingmechanism which have conventionally been made of steel or are steelsurfaced are unsuitable to give the best printing results. a much higherpigment content than do the inks in which oil or a similar substance isused as a base. Thus in black printing ink, an oil base ink will containon the order of twelve (12%) percent carbon, while a suitable water baseink may be composed on the order of twenty-five (25%) percent carbon. Inthe process of printis therefore desirable to use much thinner ink filmson the various rollers of the inking mechanism, but when this is donewith inking mechanisms of conventional design it has been found that thefinished product is marred by specks and cannot be regarded as asatisfactory marketable product. Furthermore, it is necessary when usingwater base inks in the inking mechanism to make provision against therusting of the various members of the mechanism with which the ink hascontact.

The present invention provides an inking mechanism which completelyovercomes the difficulties referred to in the use of water base inks.The inking rollers of the mechanism have outer cylindrical surfaces madeof rubber or some composition similar in physical character, while thefountain roller, spiral roller and ink distributing drum are providedwith outer cylindrical surfaces of a relatively non-rusting materialwhich is polished to a relatively high degree, preferably to a mirrorsurface. One very satisfactory manner of providing light weight anddurable members with the properties desired is to chrome plate them andfinish and polish them to the necessary accurate dimensions and to apolish approaching a mirror finish. The fountain blade and the innerportion of the ink fountain may likewise be provided with rust proofsurfaces in order to provide a durable construction for use with waterbase inks.

The water base inks contain Each printing couple of a rotary webperfecting printing press is provided with an inking mechanism asalready described, and these printing couples each comprise a platecylinder and an impression cylinder, both driven from the printing pressdriving mechanism and between which the web of paper or other materialis led for printing. The plate cylinder of each printing couple isarranged to lie adjacent the steel ink distributing drum of an inkingmechanism, and between the plate cylinder and the distributing drum arearranged a pair of ink form rollers of rubber or composition. Theserollers are each in peripheral contact with the cylindrical surface ofthe ink distributing drum and the printing plates carried by the platecylinder whereby ink is transferred from the distributing drum anddeposited on the plates for impression on the web. Means are providedfor driving one of the ink form. rollers for each printing couple andfor varying the speed at which said rollers are driven, and these meanscomprise a pair of pulleys with V-shaped belt grooves, one of saidpulleys being mounted on an end of the impression cylinder for coaxialrotation therewith and the other being similarly mounted on an end ofthe ink form roller. The pulley on the impression cylinder is of theadjustable pitch type and a continuous belt of regular trapezoidal crosssection engages the grooves. of both pulleys whereby the ink form rolleris driven from the impression cylinder.

In order to vary the speed at which the ink form roller is. driven aroller is mounted on the printingpress frame to engage one reach of thecontinuous belt between the ink form cylinder and the impressioncylinder, and an adjusting screw is provided for control by the pressmanto engage the roller against the belt reach with greater or lesspressure. In this manner the effective diameter of the variable pitchpulley on the impression cylinder may be varied by the pressman with aresultant variation in the driven speed of the ink form roller.

It will be understood that the foregoing general description and thefollowing detailed description as well are exemplary and explanatory ofthe invention but are not restrictive thereof.

Referring now to the illustrative embodiment of the present invention asshown in the accompanying drawings the printing press is illustrativelyshown as a rotary web perfecting press comprising a pair of impressioncylinders IO, N (Fig. 1) and a pair of plate cylinders l2, l3 formingtogether a pair of printing couples through which the web W is led inthe direction of the indicating arrows thereon for printing on bothsides of the web. Suitable guide rollers l4, |.5, l6 and I! are providedto give the web W a desired path through the printing couples.

The inking mechanism for each printing couple may comprise an inkfountain 20 in which a fountain roller 2| is rotatably mounted anddriven in any customary and well known manner from the printing pressdriving mechanism (not shown). A spiral ink or multiple disc transferroller 22 of the type shown and described in my prior U. S. Patent No.2,154,544 is suitably rotatably mounted to closely approach peripheralcontact with fountain roller 2| and to have such contact with a transferroller 23, which completes the transfer of ink from the fountain 20 tothe surface of the ink drum 24 and evenly distributes it over thecylindrical outer surface of that drum in a film of the desiredthickness. Inking rollers 25, 26, 21 are suitably rotatably mounted, asfor instance upon the printing press frame (not shown), in a customarymanner for oscillatory axial movement, to have peripheral engagementwith the surface of ink drum 24, and serve further to evenly distributeprinting ink in a film of uniform consistency and depth upon drum 24.

The inking rollers 25, 26, 21 and the transfer roller 23 are formed withouter cylindrical surfaces of rubber or composition, but the fountainroller 2|, the spiral roller 22, and the ink drum 24 are provided withouter cylindrical surfaces of relatively rust-proof material which is atthe same time highly conducive to the spread of ink, in order thatsatisfactory results may be obtained using water base inks. A practicalway of obtaining the desired results is to chrome plate such rollersmade of steel or other ferrous materials and then to properly andaccurately grind the rollers to the desired measurements. Thereafter thesurfaces of the rollers are polished to a high degree and preferably toa mirror finish, although a finish of slightly less perfection has beenfound to be satisfactory. Other materials highly conducive to ink spreadand relatively resistant to rusting may be used to provide a surface forthese rollers which will be satisfactory.

The ink form rollers 30, 3| are rotatably mounted to lie between platecylinder l2 and the ink drum 24. These rollers have outer cylindricalsurfaces of rubber or composition and are in peripheral contact with theinked surface of drum 24 and the printing plates carried by cylinder l3,thereby transferring ink to the plate cylinder for impression upon webW.

Mechanism is provided for driving the ink form roller 3| at speeds to bedetermined and varied by the pressman, and as illustratively shown inFig. 1 a pulley 35 is coaxially mounted on the end of roller 3| forrotation therewith. Another pulley indicated generally as 36 iscoaxiallymounted on the end of the impression cylinder H for rotationtherewith, and the pulleys 35, 36 have V-shaped grooves to accommodatethe continuous belt 3! of regular trapezoidal cross section.

As shown in Fig. 2 the pulley 36 is of an adjustable pitch type andcomprises a pair of annular discs 40, 4| mounted by a splined connectionfor axial and against relative rotar movement upon shaft 42, to which isalso fixed the impression cylinder A coiled spring 43 is positioned onthe end of shaft 42 and is compressed between the outer pulley disc 40and nut 44 threaded on the end of the shaft, jam nut 45 being also therepositioned to maintain the desired compression on the spring.

A pressure roller 48 is mounted for free rotary movement on arm 49 whichis pivotally mounted on a hanger 5U suitably supported by the printingpress frame or otherwise as may be desired. An adjusting member 5| isintegral with the arm &9 and extends therefrom at substantially rightangles, and journalled in this member is the adjusting screw 52 which isthreaded into hanger 5|]. It will be observed that by turning the handwheel 53 of the adjusting screw 52 the roller 48 may be made to pressagainst the belt 31 with greater or less pressure and thus to displacethe adjacent reach of the belt more or less from its natural path. Withan increased pressure of roller 48 upon belt 31 the belt will be forceddeeper into the widening groove of pulley 36, resulting in a lesseningof the effective diameter of the pulley and a slower driven speed forthe ink'form roller 3|, while a lessening of pressure of roller 48 willresult in an opposite effect upon pulley 36 and an increase in drivenspeed for roller 3|.

The present invention, in its illustrative embodiment as herein shownand described, provide a driven ink form roller for transfer anddistribution of ink from an ink drum to the printing plates of aprinting press plate cylinder, and means under the control of thepressman are provided for varying the driven speed of the roller. As isentirely familiar to those skilled in the present art the plate andimpression cylinders of a printing couple are driven during theoperation of the press at several times the speed of the inkingmechanism, including the ink drum herein shown as drum 24, and there isconsequently a sliding contact between the surfaces of ink form rollerssuch as rollers 30 and 3| and the members of different rotating speedswhich they contact, cylinder l3 and drum 24. It has been found that incertain circumstances this slippage is not a uniform motion of the inkrollers 3| but may be an intermittent slippage resulting fromalternately slower and faster rotation of the rollers. This action oftenresults in uneven distribution of ink upon the printing plates and anunsatisfactory printed product, and the difliculty arises particularlywhen printing is to be done with a so-called water base ink.

The present invention obviates the difliculties referred to by providingfor the constant drive Of an ink form roller and the adjustment of itsdriven speed to obtain the best printing results. The invention has beenshown and described in a present preferred embodiment wherein only theink form roller nearer the point of printing relationship between theplate cylinder, the impression cylinder and the web, is driven, and thisembodiment has been found to give the uniform inking of the printingplates desired.

The invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specificmechanisms shown and described but departures may be made therefromwithin the scope of the accompanying claims without departing from theprinciples of the invention and without sacrificing its chiefadvantages.

What I claim is:

1. A rotary printing press including inking mechanism comprising, incombination, a cylindrical printing member to be inked, an impressioncylinder to cooperate with the printing member to print on an interposedrunning web, an ink supply cylinder to carry ink on its outercylindrical surface, a plurality of form rollers in peripheral contactwith the printing member and the supply cylinder, means for driving fromthe printing press that one of the form rollers which contacts thesurface of the ink drum sooner to reach the point of impression on theWeb, and means under the control of the pressman for varying the drivenspeed of the form roller.

2. A rotary printing press including inking mechanism comprising, incombination, a cylindrical printing member to be inked, an impressioncylinder to cooperate with the printing member in printing, drivingmeans for the impression cylinder, an ink supply cylinder to carry inkon its outer cylindrical surface, a form roller in axial alignment withthe supply cylinder and printing member and adapted to have surfacecontact with each, and variable speed driving means between theimpression cylinder and the form roller, comprising a pulley mounted onthe impression cylinder for coaxial rotation therewith,

a pulley mounted on the form roller for coaxial rotation therewith, oneof said pulleys being of automatically variable pitch, an endless belton the pulleys, and adjustable pressure means engaging one reach of thebelt, whereby the pitch of the automatically variable pitch pulley maybe varied by varying the pressure of the pressure means on the belt.

3. Inking mechanism for rotary printing presses using water base inkscomprising, in combination, an ink drum from which ink is transferred tothe member of the printing press to be inked, an ink fountain, afountain roller mounted in the ink fountain, and ink transfer rollersbetween the fountain roller and the ink drum, the fountain roller, inkdrum and ink transfer roller nearest the fountain roller having outercylindrical surfaces of highly polished rust resisting material.

4. Inking mechanism for rotary printing presses comprising, incombination, an ink drum from which ink is transferred to the member ofthe printing press to be inked, an ink fountain, a fountain rollermounted in the ink fountain, and a pair of ink transfer rollers betweenthe fountain roller and the ink drum, the ink transfer roller nearestthe ink drum having an outer cylindrical surface of rubberlike materialand the ink drum, fountain roller, and ink transfer roller nearest thefountain roller having outer cylindrical surfaces of chromium polishedto a substantially mirror finish.

5. Inking mechanism for rotary printing presses using water base inkscomprising, in combination, an ink fountain, a fountain roller mountedin the fountain, an ink drum, a pair of ink transfer rollers between thefountain roller and ink drum, the ink transfer roller nearest the inkdrum having an outer cylindrical surface of rubberlike material, the inkdrum, the fountain roller, and the ink transfer roller nearest thefountain roller having outer cylindrical metallic surfaces of highlypolished rust resisting material, a form roller in peripheral contactwith the ink drum and the member of the printing press to be inked,means for driving the form roller from the printing press, and means forvarying the driven speed of the form roller.

6. Inking mechanism for rotary printing presses using water base inkscomprising, in combination, an ink supply cylinder to carry ink on itsouter cylindrical surface, said cylinder having an outer cylindricalsurface of highly polished rust resisting metal, a form roller inperipheral contact with said ink supply cylinder and a member of theprinting press to be inked, means for driving the form roller from theprinting press, and means for varying the driven speed of the formroller.

AUBURN TAYLOR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,214,950 Aller Sept. 1'7, 19402,134,159 Von Hofe Oct. 25, 1938 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date460,092 Great Britain Jan. 19, 1937

